SUPPORT SQUAD

Unauthorized Charges! Fraudulent, shady, business practices!!

I called Saveology to sign up for Dish Network based on a promotion that was advertised in a mailer. Upon calling, several things are clarified that are extremely misleading ("No setup fees and no installation fees!" Oh, but there's a $50 processing fee! But we forgot to put that on the ad!). They force you to sign up for a "free trial" of some service called "Support Squad" - supposedly a tech support service. I aggressively tried to decline the "free trial", but was told that I needed to cancel it after it was processed instead. Whatever. The call goes on and more shady practices are uncovered and I tell the guy on the phone I changed my mind; I don't want to sign any kind of contract with a company that's this crooked. He convinces me to let the tech come by the next day and I can read the contract, if I still don't want to sign it, all charges will be reversed and I won't be penalised at all... fine. I finish the call and hang up. An hour later, I'm still thinking about it, and still mad, so I call Saveology back and cancel. I check the next day, and the $57 or whatever has been credited back to my account.

Fast forward three months - I notice a charge on my credit card that I don't recognise - "Support Squad - $9.99 - 888-225-8568". I search my email for "support squad" and see the initial email from Saveology. So, I call the phone number and explain that the service was cancelled, I never wanted it in the first place, I don't have Dish Network, and I never got any bills, receipts, confirmations or even account info from "Support Squad" to even be able to use their services. They say that they can only reverse 1 month's worth of charges. They say that they can't reverse anything more than that because I purchased the service through a 3rd party reseller (Saveology), but the CSR also says that Saveology couldn't reverse the charges either. After arguing with them for about 20 minutes, she offers to pull the recording of the initial call - if I didn't authorise the charges, then she could reverse them. Well, the problem is, even IF I authorised the charges, I called back an hour later and cancelled! "Well, sir, they wouldn't be able to cancel the charges then because they're only a 3rd party reseller." "Whatever, pull the call. While I'm waiting the 3 weeks it takes to do that, I'll call them, and maybe I'll call my credit card company and report the charges as fraudulent." I hang up.

Next, I call Saveology and start at the beginning of the story. They say they can't reverse the changes because they're only a 3rd party reseller.

Me:"Whatever. You guys are the ones that sold me the service. You guys are the ones that cancelled the Dish Network service. You guys are the ones that should have told me how to cancel the Support Squad service. Now, let me talk to your manager and voice my complaint before I call my credit card company and dispute the charge with them."

So, that CSR tells me that I should have called and cancelled the first time I was charged the $10 (a month after this was supposed to be CANCELLED), after all, "that's why they provide their phone number on the credit card charge." So, apparently, that's it, when you sign up for this "totally legitimate tech support company", they don't send you any emails, no snail mail, no account information, no introduction, no list of services, no welcome letter... nothing. They just bill you, and if you have any questions, you're expected to get the phone number from that line of your credit card statement. That's not shady at all! Soooo... the CSR gets her manager and they decide to "make an exception and refund all the charges".

Me: "Wait... I thought Saveology was just a 3rd party reseller and they couldn't refund the charges?!?!"
Saveology: "Sir, I said that we are a reseller for Dish Network, and I couldn't refund any charges from them."
Me: "Who said anything about charges from Dish Network? I didn't ask you ANYTHING about Dish Network! This is the first time anybody mentioned Dish Network during this call! So, you are affiliated with Support Squad then?"
Saveology: "Yes, sir, that's what I said..."
Me: "Whatever. You should hurry up and process my refund before I lose it."
Saveology: "You should see the refund on you credit card statement within 14 business days"

What a friggin' scam!! Beware of Saveology and Support Squad! If these people get a hold of your credit card number, make sure you check your statements! And keep checking your statements!!

Comments

Support Squad is a SCAM!!! We were ripped off by Support Squad through purchase of AT&T Uverse service. Same thing - $9.99 per month. The bank is involved with dispute for credit card fraud to reverse the fees. Support Squad has told the bank that AT&T authorized the charges. AT&T says they did not, we are stuck paying the bill. Support Squad would not reverse charges for me, but would only try to sell me other services. The bank has gotten them to reverse one month. Support Squad is a SCAM!!!

I agree with all comments, Support Squad is a SCAM!! I have no idea how they got my card number to begin with since I pay Dish network with a different card. Please keep an eye on your statements and report Support Squad to the BBB!

i agree i am getting charged 9.99 on my card but yet i do not have any service with comcast or with support squad they keep telling mecthat they will take my name off of there list but yet i am still getting charged for service that i do not have.

Yeah! Fuck these guys. Anyone know how they sign you up? I was unaware of this for 7 months! $70 down the drain. I even asked to talk to a supervisor and she told me that they were experiencing high call volumes and there was not one available. I'm reporting them to my bank

I just filed a compliant against Support Squad with the BBB. I THINK WE ALL SHOULD. Hopefully we can put Support Squad . . . OUT OF BUSINESS! Also, there is a YouTube video that we should all go and leave a comment. I did. I want everyone out there to BEWARE of Support Squad. They are SCAM ARTISTS! They've been charging my credit card for 6 months and I had no idea. They will not credit my account! I am so MAD!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1YoeheNL7c
Thanks ALL!

Good suggestion on filing a complaint with Better Business Bureau which covers FL where Supp. Squad is headquarted: http://www.seflorida.bbb.org/consumers I just filed a complaint with them. I placed a stop payment with my bank which is good for 14 months against any attempted charge from Support Squad - I made myself a calendar task to remind me to renew that in 14 months because given my experience with them I wouldn't doubt they have set a reminder in their system to renew billing in 14 months when the stop payment expires. This is my first experience with fraud like this - really unsettling.

Support was given my debit card info by Time Warner Cable who is also very sketchy we found out after an unfortunate one month experience with them. Horrible, horrible, horrible customer service and now we find out they gave our debit card info to a Scam artist company... unbelievable.

I also had this done to me. Thing is i dont even have time warner. We attempted to get time warner who set a appointment to come out and install cable then come to find out they called us a day later to say they cant install it due to not being in our area. Shortly after i received the first bill for this, but thinking it was for AT&T Uverse's install fee i ignored it until i got billed for it again next month.

When i called this company they were unable to give me information on how they got my credit card information. Nor would they give me a straight answer on anything. Also the information wasnt even correct they had my girlfriends name as the account holder with my billing address which is in another state and a address she doesnt know. I did not sign or consent to anything this company offers and as a result i filed a complaint with the better business bureau. Hopefully they get what they deserve and so does the companies who work with them. Sounds like another class action lawsuit!

I want to know if this is from Uverse or Time Warner. Uverse also somehow got my social security number and linked to to my girlfriends name. Only way i can think this happen was that she had me as a emergency contact and i have a wireless account with them. They were threatining until i threatening saying we committed fraud till proved to them that the information we received was correct and that all there other mail says dear valued customers. Once i mentioned lawyers things completely changed and they gave us our money back and cancelled the contract free of charge.

Are these companies linked if so get them both BBB for being scam artists.

Support Squad charged my credit card $9.99 for 6 months. I had no idea. I rarely check my statements. I will from now on. Anyhow, that's how I found about the fraudulent charges. I called Comcast and they said I should report Support Squad because the they had never heard of them. I decided to report them to the BBB and we went back and fourth. Support Squad credited my account for only $9.99 and the BBB asked me if I was satisfied with that and I said NO WAY, that I wanted all my money back. I told BBB to check Support Squad on line for other people complaints on fraudulent charges because I am not the only one being scammed. I suppose BBB did and fought for me because I just received a check for $39.96 from Support Squad. So, they still owe me $9.99. Everyone out there going through this should report Support Squad to the BBB. It is worth it. We need to fight back. Please don't let these JERKS keep our hard earned money. Thanks all!

My husband noticed the $9.99 charge from support squad in our account and I had no idea what it was. He google searched it and found this website. Thats how we found out about the scam. I called the support squad number and told the customer service rep that we had never used there services nor did we give them our card info and that they need to refund the money they took and to cancel our "account" with them so we wouldn't be charged again. I didn't have any problems. He cancelled the payments and refunded my money. He told me that Time Warner Cable was responsible for it and that when we had it installed the tech should have mentioned it. Im going to call TWC and ask them not to give my card info out to any other companies.

They got me too. I signed up for Comcast cable, and they told me they needed a credit card to hold on file. The next day I was billed $10 from Support Squad. I wonder if Dish, and Comcast, know what is being done under ther name?

Just noticed that they charged us $64.90 - we had no idea that when we called for Time Warner Cable to put internet at my Mother-in-laws house that they automatically signed us up for this bogus company - what a scam - hopefully Chase Bank can get this reversed.

As an ex-employee of Saveology.com in Fort Lauderdale, I found some of thecustomers' information, such as credit card information and social security numbers stored in some of the employees' database file folders at a computer terminal in the call center. I would like to warn the consumer of these practices at this company. Please do not provide them with any credit card and other personal information. Saveology, Inc. will advertise under different cable and satelite tv companies, such as Comcast, Time-Warner, Cablevision, Verizon and AT&T and post their 1-800 number and Saveology, Inc. at the top of the web page. If you see Saveology, Inc. on the web page, do not call the 1-800 number. If they answer as, Hi! My name is _________________. May I have your name and telephone in case we get disconnected. Hung up! It is Saveology.com. Beware of this company!

I had to call my bank and SupportSquad 4 times, but I finally got them to reverse ALL charges.

My advice to anyone else who is getting scammed:
- Call your bank and place a block on all charges.
- Call Support Squad at (888) 225-8568, state that you did not agree to any services, and that in order to charge you they need to provide you with proof of such agreement. If they do not comply in 7-10 days, call back and tell them that this constitutes credit card fraud, and that if you do not receive total reimbursement, you will report them to the BBB, and their local business licensing authority, the "Broward County Business Tax" Authority (direct emails to dholness@broward.org), and inform them that a business in their district is engaging in fraud.
- If this still doesn't work, you can escalate it to:
1. Federal Trade Commission: Telephone: 202-326-2000 or visit: www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov

I just filed a complaint with my bank they have been crediting my account for a yr now!!! I approved of no such charges! This company should be shut down, this doesn't make any sense! so i tried to call the company support squad and they said call during business hours. But thing is they didnt list any BUSINESS HOURS!!! This is totally a SCAM to the fullest. They better credit my account I want all of my money back ASAP!

I knew that there was something "fishy" about Support Squad. Last year, my husband and I signed up for Comcast Xfinity. I wasn't home during the installation process but apparently during the install the Comcast tech mentioned unlimited tech support for internet, cell phones and whatever technological device we had. The Comcast tech made it seem like it was a Comcast service. A few months later I notice $9.99 coming out of my account from SUPPORTOLOGY.COM. My husband brought up what the tech said. We never used it and I had my own technical support through my company. So I try to cancel. I call Comcasts customer service line and the rep had no idea what I was talking about so she transferred me to their technical support. This tech also did not know what I was talking about. I look up supportolgy call the 800 # and try to cancel. The rep had a friendly perky PUSHY approach that I wasn'y buying. He explains their services with mention to a welcome package I should have received. Never got a welcome package. Never got any notification that $9.99 was going to be coming out of my account. So he apologizes and offers me a $25 restaurant gif certificate and tells me that he would hate for me to waste a whole months service when the most recent monthly fee just got deducted from account. He said he would send a welcome package and asked that I wait until I recieved it and then make the decision to cancel. Fine. I get the "welcome package" which is just a flyer and its from Support Squad rather than supportology. Still don't need the service. Today I call and try to cancel. I had to call twice because the account was set up under my husbands name and I didn't have his info. Fine. But the whole time she was pushy about the services and wanted to know why I needed to cancel. I gave her my explanation. She put me hold for 2-3 minutes and finally told me that my husband had to call. So I call back about an hour later while my husband is standing next to me. The rep sounded OK when she first introduced herself but as soon as I stated I wanted to cancel my account, she immediately became rude and pushy asking why I would want to cancel a service with such great benefits. I had to get firm stern because she had such an attitude about it. And again, she kept putting me on hold! She put me on hold 3 times each time being at least 4 to 5 minutes long! I finally asked why its taking so long and she snapped back saying her computer froze and gave me some other lame excuse. So she finally comes back and asks if I had a pen and paper to write down the confirmation #. I then asked if I was going to get an official notification via email of USPS because I didn't trust the so called confirmation #. She again, snapped at me saying that's why she gave me a confirmation code to prove my account was cancelled. At this point I was yelling at her because I had it with her extremely RUDE attitude. Normally when you cancel a paid service you get written confirmation. I am so LIVID with this company! I do not recommend them. There is something seriously wrong with their customer service approach and business operation. It is so unprofessional of a company to train their employees to be agressive, pushy and RUDE when customers want to cancel their services. Especially when there is no notification of montthly deductions. They do not communicate their services well and shame on cable companies for slipping this service into your plan.